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Everton F.C.
Everton}} | season = | current = 2016–17 Everton F.C. season | pattern_la1 = _everton1617h.svg | pattern_la2 = _evertonfc1617a | pattern_la3 = _evertonfc1617t | pattern_b1 = _everton1617h | pattern_b2 = | pattern_b3 = | pattern_ra1 = _everton1617h.svg | pattern_ra2 = _evertonfc1617a | pattern_ra3 =_evertonfc1617t | pattern_sh1 = _everton1617h.svg | pattern_sh2 = _evertonfc1617a | pattern_sh3 =_evertonfc1617t | pattern_so1 = _everton1617h.svg | pattern_so2 = _evertonfc1617a | pattern_so3 = _evertonfc1617t | leftarm1 = 0000FF | leftarm2 = 000000 | leftarm3 = FFFF00 | body1 = 0000FF | body2 = 000000 | body3 = FFFF00 | rightarm1 = 0000FF | rightarm2 = 000000 | rightarm3 = FFFF00 | shorts1 = FFFFFF | shorts2 = 000000 | shorts3 = 0000FF | socks1 = FFFFFF | socks2 = 000000 | socks3 = FFFF00 | clubname = Everton | fullname = Everton Football Club | image = File:Everton FC logo.svg | 125px | | motto = Nil Satis Nisi Optimum | founded = (as St. Domingo Football Club) | owntitle = Owner(s) | owner = Farhad Moshiri (49.9%) Bill Kenwright (12.2%) Jon Woods (8.9%) Other Shareholders (29.0%) | chairman = Bill Kenwright | manager = Ronald Koeman | league = | position = | website = http://www.evertonfc.com }} Everton F.C. is a football club in Liverpool, England that currently compete in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club have competed in the top division for a record 114 seasons and won the League Championship nine times and the FA Cup five times. Formed in 1878, Everton were founding members of The Football League in 1888 and won their first League Championship two seasons later. Following four League Championship and two FA Cup wins, Everton experienced a lull in the immediate post World War Two period, until a revival in the 1960s, which saw the club win two League Championships and an FA Cup. The mid-1980s represented their most recent period of sustained success, with two League Championships, an FA Cup, and the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup. The club's supporters are known as Evertonians. Everton have a rivalry with neighbours Liverpool, and the two sides contest the Merseyside derby. The club have been based at Goodison Park in Walton, Liverpool, since 1892, after moving from Anfield following a row over its rent. The club's home colours are royal blue shirts with white shorts and socks. History ]] Everton were founded as St Domingo's in 1878 so that people from the parish of St Domingo's Methodist Church Everton could play sport year round — cricket was played in summer. The club's first game was a 1–0 victory over Everton Church Club. The club was renamed Everton in November 1879 after the local area, as people outside the parish wished to participate. The club was a founding member of the Football League in 1888–89 and won their first League Championship title in the 1890–91 season. Everton won the FA Cup for the first time in 1906 and the League Championship again in 1914–15. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 interrupted the football programme while Everton were champions, which was something that would again occur in 1939. It was not until 1927 that Everton's first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean from Tranmere Rovers. In 1927–28, Dean set the record for top-flight league goals in a single season with 60 goals in 39 league games, which is a record that still stands. He helped Everton win their third League Championship that season. However, Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later during internal turmoil at the club. The club quickly rebounded and was promoted at the first attempt, while scoring a record number of goals in the Second Division. On return to the top flight in 1931–32, Everton wasted no time in reaffirming their status and won a fourth League Championship at the first opportunity. Everton also won their second FA Cup in 1933 with a 3–0 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 1938–39 with a fifth League Championship. The outbreak of the Second World War again saw the suspension of league football, and when official competition resumed in 1946, the Everton team had been split up and paled in comparison to the pre-war team. Everton were relegated for the second time in 1950–51 and did not earn promotion until 1953–54, when they finished as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club have been a top-flight presence ever since. Everton's second successful era started when Harry Catterick was made manager in 1961. In 1962–63, his second season in charge, Everton won the League Championship. Everton Football Club|url = http://www.evertonfc.com/content/history/honours-and-records/championship-wins/196263-season|website = www.evertonfc.com|accessdate = 3 September 2015}} In 1966 the club won the FA Cup with a 3–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday. Everton again reached the final in 1968, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Two seasons later in 1969–70, Everton won the League Championship, finishing nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United. Everton Football Club|url = http://www.evertonfc.com/content/history/honours-and-records/championship-wins/196970-season|website = www.evertonfc.com|accessdate = 3 September 2015}} During this period, Everton were the first English club to achieve five consecutive years in European competitions — covering the seasons from 1961–62 to 1966–67. However, the success did not last; the team finished fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and seventh in the following seasons. Harry Catterick retired, but his successors failed to win any silverware for the remainder of the 1970s despite finishing fourth in 1974–75 under manager Billy Bingham, third in 1977–78 and fourth the following season under manager Gordon Lee. Lee was sacked in 1981. Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 and two League Championships in 1984–85 and 1986–87. In Europe, the club won its first, and so far only, European trophy by securing the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985. The European success came after first beating University College Dublin, Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard. Then, Everton defeated German giants Bayern Munich 3–1 in the semi-finals, despite trailing at half time (in a match voted the greatest in Goodison Park history), and recorded the same scoreline over Austrian club Rapid Vienna in the final. Having won both the League and Cup Winners' Cup in 1985, Everton came very close to winning a treble, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. The following season, 1985–86, Everton were runners-up to neighbours Liverpool in both the League and the FA Cup, but did recapture the League Championship in 1986–87. After the Heysel Stadium disaster and the subsequent ban of all English clubs from continental football, Everton lost the chance to compete for more European trophies. A large proportion of the title-winning side was broken up following the ban. Kendall himself moved to Athletic Bilbao after the 1987 title triumph and was succeeded by assistant Colin Harvey. Harvey took Everton to the 1989 FA Cup Final, but lost 3–2 after extra time to Liverpool. Everton were founding members of the Premier League in 1992, but struggled to find the right manager. Howard Kendall had returned in 1990, but could not repeat his previous success. His successor, Mike Walker, was statistically the least successful Everton manager to date. When former Everton player Joe Royle took over in 1994, the club's form started to improve; his first game in charge was a 2–0 victory over derby rivals Liverpool. Royle dragged Everton clear of relegation and led the club to the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history by defeating Manchester United 1–0 in the final. The cup triumph was also Everton's passport to the Cup Winners' Cup — their first European campaign in the post-Heysel era. Progress under Royle continued in 1995–96 as they climbed to sixth place in the Premiership. A fifteenth-place finish the following season saw Royle resign towards the end of the campaign, and he was temporarily replaced by club captain Dave Watson. Howard Kendall was appointed Everton manager for the third time in 1997, but the appointment proved unsuccessful as Everton finished seventeenth in the Premiership. The club only avoided relegation due to their superior goal difference over Bolton Wanderers. Former Rangers manager Walter Smith then took over from Kendall in the summer of 1998, but only managed three successive finishes in the bottom half of the table. The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith, and he was sacked in March 2002 after an FA Cup exit at Middlesbrough and with Everton in real danger of relegation. His replacement, David Moyes, guided Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place. In 2002–03 Everton finished seventh, which was their highest finish since 1996. It was under Moyes' management that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £28 million in the summer of 2004. A fourth-place finish in 2004–05 ensured that Everton qualified for the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The team failed to make it through to the Champions League group stage and were then eliminated from the UEFA Cup. Everton qualified for the 2007–08 and 2008–09 UEFA Cup competitions, and they were runners-up in the 2009 FA Cup Final. During this period, Moyes broke the club record for highest transfer fee paid on four occasions: signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005, Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006, Yakubu for £11.25 million in summer 2007, and Marouane Fellaini for £15 million in September 2008. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Moyes left his position at Everton to take over at Manchester United. He was replaced by Roberto Martínez, who led Everton to 5th place in the Premier League in his first season while amassing the club's best points tally in 27 years with 72. The following season, Martínez led Everton to the last 16 of the 2014-15 UEFA Europa League, where they were defeated by Dynamo Kyiv, whilst domestically finishing 11th in the Premier League. Everton reached the semi-finals of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in 2015–16, but were defeated in both. After a poor run of form in the Premier League, Martínez was sacked following the penultimate game of the season, with Everton lying in 12th place. He was replaced in the summer by Ronald Koeman, who left Southampton to sign a 3-year contract with Everton. Colours Everton's traditional home colours are royal blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. However, during the first decades of their history, Everton had several different kit colours. The team originally played in white and then blue and white stripes, but as new players arriving at the club wore their old team's shirts during matches, confusion soon ensued. It was decided that the shirts would be dyed black, both to save on expenses and to instill a more professional look. However, the kit appeared morbid, so a scarlet sash was added. When the club moved to Goodison Park in 1892, the colours were salmon pink and dark blue striped shirts with dark blue shorts. The club later switched to ruby shirts with blue trim and dark blue shorts. Royal blue jerseys with white shorts were first used in the 1901–02 season. The club played in sky blue in 1906; however, the fans protested, and the colour reverted to royal blue. Occasionally, Everton have played in lighter shades than royal blue (such as in 1930–31 and 1997–98). The home kit today is royal blue shirts with white shorts and socks. The club may also wear all blue to avoid any colour clashes. The home goalkeeper attire for the 2014–15 season was all yellow. Everton's traditional away colours were white shirts with black shorts, but from 1968 amber shirts and royal blue shorts became common. Various editions appeared throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Recently, black, white, grey and yellow away shirts have been used. The away shirt for the 2011–12 season was reverted to an amber shirt with navy blue shorts. The current away kit is a black shirt with an orange collar, while their third kit is a yellow shirt with blue trim. Crest has featured on Everton's crest]] At the end of the 1937–38 season, Everton secretary Theo Kelly, who later became the club's first manager, wanted to design a club necktie. It was agreed that the colour be blue, and Kelly was given the task of designing a crest to be featured on the necktie. He worked on it for four months until deciding on a reproduction of Prince Rupert's Tower, which stands in the heart of the Everton district. The Tower has been inextricably linked with the Everton area since its construction in 1787. It was originally used as a bridewell to incarcerate mainly drunks and minor criminals, and it still stands today on Everton Brow. The tower was accompanied by two laurel wreaths on either side and, according to the College of Arms in London, Kelly chose to include the laurels as they were the sign of winners. The crest was accompanied by the club motto, "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum", meaning "Nothing but the best is good enough". The ties were first worn by Kelly and the Everton chairman, Mr. E. Green, on the first day of the 1938–39 season. The club rarely incorporated a badge of any description on its shirts. An interwoven "EFC" design was adopted between 1922 and 1930 before the club reverted to plain royal blue shirts until 1972 when bold "EFC" lettering was added. The crest designed by Kelly was first used on the team's shirts in 1978 and has remained there ever since, while undergoing gradual change to become the version used today. In May 2013, the club launched a new crest to improve the reproducibility of the design in print and broadcast media, particularly on a small scale. Critics suggested that it was external pressure from sports manufacturer Nike, Inc. that evoked the redesign as the number of colours had been reduced and the radial effect was removed, which made the kit more cost efficient to reproduce. The redesign was poorly received by supporters, with a poll on an Everton fan site registering a 91% negative response to the crest. A protest petition reached over 22,000 signatures before the club offered an apology and announced a new crest would be created for the 2014–15 season with an emphasis on fan consultation. Shortly afterwards, the Head of Marketing left the club. The latest crest was revealed by the club on 3 October 2013. After a consultation process with the supporters, three new crests were shortlisted. In the final vote, the new crest was chosen by almost 80% of the supporters that took part and began being used in July 2014. File:Everton FC Crest (2000–13).svg|Monochrome Everton crest (2000–13) File:Everton F.C. (2013).svg| 2013–14 season crest File:Everton FC logo.svg|Current crest - 2014–15 season onwards. Nickname Everton's most widely recognised nickname "The Toffees" or "The Toffeemen", which came about after Everton had moved to Goodison. There are several explanations for how this name came to be adopted with the best known being that there was a business in Everton village, between Everton Brow and Brow Side, named Mother Noblett's, which was a toffee shop that sold sweets including the Everton Mint. It was also located opposite the lock up which Everton's club crest is based on. The Toffee Lady tradition in which a girl walks around the perimeter of the pitch before the start of a game tossing free Everton Mints into the crowd symbolises the connection. Another possible reason is that there was a house named Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House in nearby Village Street, Everton, run by Ma Bushell. The toffee house was located near the Queen's Head hotel in which early club meetings took place. Everton have had many other nicknames over the years. When the black kit was worn, Everton were nicknamed "The Black Watch" after the famous army regiment. Since going blue in 1901, Everton have been given the simple nickname "The Blues". Everton's attractive style of play led to Steve Bloomer calling the team "scientific" in 1928, which is thought to have inspired the nickname "The School of Science". The battling 1995 FA Cup winning side were known as "The Dogs of War". When David Moyes arrived as manager, he proclaimed Everton as "The People's Club", which has been adopted as a semi-official club nickname. Stadium , former Everton chairman and Anfield landowner]] arranged for Everton to move to Goodison Park.]] Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley Park. The first official match took place in 1879. In 1882, a man named J. Cruitt donated land at Priory Road which became the club's home. In 1884 Everton became tenants at Anfield, which was owned by John Orrell, a land owner who was a friend of Everton F.C. member John Houlding. Orrell lent Anfield to the club in exchange for a small rent. Houlding purchased the land from Orrell in 1885 and effectively became Everton's landlord by charging the club rent, which increased from £100 to £240 a year by 1888 – and was still rising until Everton left the ground in 1892. The club regarded the increase in rent as unacceptable. A further dispute between Houlding and the club's committee led to Houlding attempting to gain full control of the club by registering the company, "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd". Everton left Anfield for a new ground, Goodison Park, where the club have played ever since. Houlding attempted to take over Everton's name, colours, fixtures and league position, but was denied by The Football Association. Instead, Houlding formed a new club, Liverpool F.C. Goodison Park, the first major football stadium to be built in England, was opened in 1892. Goodison Park has staged more top-flight football games than any other ground in the United Kingdom and was the only English club ground to host a semi-final at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It was also the first English ground to have under soil heating and the first to have two tiers on all sides. The church grounds of St Luke the Evangelist are adjacent to the corner of the Main Stand and the Howard Kendall Gwladys Street End. On match days, in a tradition going back to 1962, players walk out to the theme song for Z-Cars, which is named "Johnny Todd". It is a traditional Liverpool children's song collected in 1890 by Frank Kidson and tells the story of a sailor betrayed by his lover while away at sea. On two separate occasions in 1994, the club walked out to different songs. In August 1994, the club played 2 Unlimited's song "Get Ready For This". A month later, the club used a reworking of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic "Bad Moon Rising". Both songs were met with complete disapproval by Everton fans. Training facilities From 1966 to 2007, Everton trained at Bellefield in the West Derby area of Liverpool. They moved to the Finch Farm training complex in Halewood in 2007. The training ground houses both the Everton first team and the youth academy. Proposed new stadia There have been indications since 1996 that Everton will move to a new stadium. The original plan was for a new 60,000 seat stadium, but in 2000 a proposal was submitted to build a 55,000 seat stadium as part of the King's Dock regeneration. This proposal was unsuccessful as Everton failed to generate the £30 million needed for a half stake in the stadium project, and the city council rejected the proposal in 2003. Late in 2004, driven by the Liverpool Council and the Northwest Development Corporation, the club entered talks with Liverpool F.C. about sharing a proposed stadium on Stanley Park. However, negotiations broke down as Everton failed to raise 50% of the costs. On 11 January 2005, Liverpool announced that ground-sharing was not a possibility and proceeded to plan their own Stanley Park Stadium. On 16 June 2006, it was announced that Everton had entered into talks with the Knowsley Council and Tesco over the possibility of building a new 55,000 seat stadium, expandable to over 60,000, in Kirkby. The plan became known as The Kirkby Project. The club took the unusual move of giving its supporters a say in the club's future by holding a ballot on the proposal with the results being in favour of it, 59% to 41%. Opponents to the plan included other local councils concerned by the effect of a large Tesco store being built as part of the development and a group of fans demanding that Everton should remain within the city boundaries of Liverpool. Following a public inquiry into the project, the central government rejected the proposal. Local and regional politicians attempted to put together an amended rescue plan with the Liverpool City Council calling a meeting with Everton F.C. The plan was to assess some suitable sites short listed within the city boundary. However, the amended plan was also not successful. The Liverpool City Council Regeneration and Transport Select Committee meeting on 10 February 2011 featured a proposal to open the Bootle Branch line using "Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club as priorities, as economic enablers of the project". This proposal would place both football clubs on a rapid transit Merseyrail line that would circle the city and ease transport access. In September 2014 the club, working with the Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Mutual Homes, outlined initial plans to build a new stadium in Walton Hall Park. However, those plans were later scrapped in May 2016 with the prospect of two new sites being identified for the club. At the Annual General Meeting in January 2017, the chairman, Bill Kenwright revealed that Bramley Moore Dock was the preferred site for the new stadium, with a new railway station and a new road being funded by the City Council. Supporters and rivalries Everton have a large fanbase, with the eighth highest average attendance in the Premier League in the 2008–09 season. The majority of Everton's matchday support comes from the North West of England, primarily Merseyside, Cheshire, West Lancashire and parts of Western Greater Manchester along with many fans who travel from North Wales and Ireland. Within the city of Liverpool, support for Everton and city rivals Liverpool is not determined by geographical basis with supporters mixed across the city. However, Everton's support heartland is traditionally based in the North West of the city and in the southern parts of Sefton. Everton also have many supporters' clubs worldwide in places such as North America, Singapore, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. The official supporters club is FOREVERTON, and there are also several fanzines including When Skies are Grey and Speke from the Harbour, which are sold around Goodison Park on match days. in 2012, Everton's Sylvain Distin defending against Liverpool's Luis Suárez]] Everton regularly take large numbers away from home both domestically and in European fixtures. The club implements a loyalty points scheme offering the first opportunity to purchase away tickets to season ticket holders who have attended the most away matches. Everton often sell out the full allocation in away grounds, and tickets sell particularly well for North West England away matches. In October 2009, Everton took 7,000 travelling fans to Benfica, which was their largest ever away crowd in Europe since the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup Final. Everton's biggest rivalry is with neighbours Liverpool, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. The rivalry stems from an internal dispute between Everton officials and the owners of Anfield, which was then Everton's home ground. The dispute resulted in Everton moving to Goodison Park and the subsequent formation of Liverpool F.C. in 1892. Following these events, a fierce rivalry has existed between Everton and Liverpool, albeit one that is generally perceived as more respectful than many other derbies in English football. This was illustrated by a chain of red and blue scarves that were linked between the gates of both grounds across Stanley Park as a tribute to the Liverpool fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster. The derby is usually a sellout fixture and has been known as the "friendly derby" because both sets of fans can often be seen side by side dressed in red and blue inside both Anfield and Goodison Park. Recently on the field, matches tend to be extremely stormy affairs; the derby has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premiership history. Players First team squad Out on loan Reserves and Academy *''See Everton F.C. Reserves and Academy Notable former players See also List of Everton F.C. international players. ;Everton Giants The following players are considered "Giants" for their great contributions to Everton. A panel appointed by the club established the inaugural list in 2000 and a new inductee is announced every season. ;Greatest ever team At the start of the 2003–04 season, as part of the club's official celebration of their 125th anniversary, supporters cast votes to determine the greatest ever Everton team. * Neville Southall (1981–97) * Gary Stevens (1982–89) * Brian Labone (1958–71) * Kevin Ratcliffe (1980–91) * Ray Wilson (1964–69) * Trevor Steven (1983–90) * Alan Ball (1966–71) * Peter Reid (1982–89) * Kevin Sheedy (1982–92) * Dixie Dean (1925–37) * Graeme Sharp (1980–91) ;English Football Hall of Fame members A number of Everton players have been inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame: * Dixie Dean ''(2002 inductee) * Paul Gascoigne (2002 inductee) * Alan Ball (2003 inductee) * Pat Jennings (2003 inductee) * Tommy Lawton (2003 inductee) * Gary Lineker (2003 inductee) * Howard Kendall (2005 inductee) * Peter Beardsley (2007 inductee) |name=beardsleynote|group=nb}} * Mark Hughes (2007 inductee) * Neville Southall (2008 inductee)''Southall was inducted along with Liverpool F.C.'s Steven Gerrard at a special European night to celebrate the city's successful European Capital of Culture bid. * Ray Wilson ''(2008 inductee) * Joe Mercer (2009 inductee) * Harry Catterick (2010 inductee) * Peter Reid (2014 inductee) ;Football League 100 Legends The Football League 100 Legends is a list of "100 legendary football players" produced by The Football League in 1998 to celebrate the 100th season of League football. * * Alan Ball * Dixie Dean * Paul Gascoigne * Tommy Lawton * Gary Lineker * Joe Mercer * Neville Southall * Alex Young Coaching staff Honours Domestic *'First Division:' ** Champions (9): 1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87 *'Second Division:' ** Winners (1): 1930–31 *'FA Cup:' ** Winners (5): 1905–06, 1932–33, 1965–66, 1983–84, 1994–95 *'Football League Cup:' ** Runners-up (2): 1976–77, 1983–84 *'FA Charity Shield:' ** Winners (9): 1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986 (shared), 1987, 1995 *'Full Members Cup:' ** Runners-up (2): 1989, 1991 *'Super Cup:' ** Runners-up (1): 1985–86 *''' FA Youth Cup:' ** '''Winners (3)': 1965, 1984, 1998 European *'European Cup Winners' Cup:' ** Winners: (1): 1984–85 Other *'Central League:' Everton Football Club|url = http://www.evertonfc.com/honours|website = www.evertonfc.com|accessdate = 2015-09-07}} ** Winners (4): 1913–14, 1937–38, 1953–54, 1967–68 *'Lancashire Senior Cup:' ** Winners (7): 1894, 1897, 1910, 1935, 1940, 1964, 2016 *''' Liverpool Senior Cup:' ** '''Winners (46)': 1884, 1886, 1887, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910 (shared), 1911, 1912 (shared), 1914, 1919, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1934 (shared), 1936 (shared), 1938, 1940, 1945, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958 (shared), 1959, 1960, 1961, 1982 (shared), 1983, 1996, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2016 European record Ownership and finance Everton F.C. is a limited company with the board of directors holding a majority of the shares. The club's most recent accounts, from May 2014, show a net total debt of £28.1 million, with a turnover of £120.5 million and a profit of £28.2 million. Everton Football Club|url = http://www.evertonfc.com/news/2014/10/30/everton-reveal-strong-financial-results|website = www.evertonfc.com|accessdate = 2 September 2015}} The club's overdraft with Barclays Bank is secured against the Premier League's "Basic Award Fund", which is a guaranteed sum given to clubs for competing in the Premier League. Everton agreed to a long-term loan of £30 million with Bear Stearns and Prudential plc in 2002 for a duration of 25 years. The loan was a consolidation of debts at the time as well as a source of capital for new player acquisitions. Goodison Park is secured as collateral. On 27 February 2016, it was announced that Farhad Moshiri would buy a 49.9% stake in the club. Figures taken from 2013–14 accounts. Shirt sponsors and manufacturers Since 2004 Everton's shirt sponsor has been Chang Beer. Previous sponsors include Hafnia (1979–85), NEC (1985–95), Danka (1995–97), one2one (1997–2002) and Kejian (2002–04). For the 2008–09 season, Everton sold junior replica jerseys without the current name or logo of its main sponsor Chang Beer, which followed a recommendation from the Portman Group that alcoholic brand names be removed from kits sold to children. Everton's current kit manufacturers are Umbro, who have been the club's kit manufacturer three times previously (1974–83, 1986–2000, and 2004–09). Other previous manufacturing firms are Le Coq Sportif (1983–86, 2009–12), Puma (2000–04) and Nike (2012–14). The club currently has two 'megastores': one located near Goodison Park on Walton Lane named 'Everton One' and one located in the Liverpool One shopping complex named 'Everton Two', which gives the second store the address 'Everton Two, Liverpool One'. Managers The current manager, Ronald Koeman, is the fifteenth permanent holder of the position since it was established in 1939. There have also been four caretaker managers, and before 1939 the team was selected by either the club secretary or by committee. The club's longest-serving manager has been Harry Catterick, who was in charge of the team from 1961–73 for 594 first team matches. The Everton manager to win the most domestic and international trophies is Howard Kendall, who won two First Division championships, the 1984 FA Cup, the 1985 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and three FA Charity Shields. Records and statistics made a record 751 first-team appearances for Everton between 1981 and 1997]] Neville Southall holds the record for the most Everton appearances with 751 first-team matches between 1981 and 1997. The late centre half and former captain Brian Labone comes in second with 534 matches. The longest serving player is goalkeeper Ted Sagar, who played for 23 years between 1929 and 1953. This tenure covered both sides of the Second World War and included a total of 495 appearances. Southall also previously held the record for the most league clean sheets during a season with 15. However, this record was beaten during the 2008–09 season by American goalkeeper Tim Howard, who ended the season with 17 clean sheets. The club's top goalscorer, with 383 goals in all competitions, is Dixie Dean; the second-highest goalscorer is Graeme Sharp with 159. Dean still holds the English national record of most goals in a season with 60. The record attendance for an Everton home match is 78,299 against Liverpool on 18 September 1948. Amazingly, there was only one injury at this game, which occurred when Tom Fleetwood was hit on the head by a coin thrown from the crowd whilst he marched around the perimeter and played the cornet with St Edward's Orphanage Band. Goodison Park, like all major English football grounds since the recommendations of the Taylor Report were implemented, is now an all-seater and only holds just under 40,000, meaning it is unlikely that this attendance record will ever be broken at Goodison. Everton's record transfer paid was to Chelsea for Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku for a sum of £28m in 2014. Everton bought the player after he played the previous year with the team on loan. Everton hold the record for the most seasons in England's top tier (Division One/Premier League), at 114 seasons out of 118 as of 2016–17 (the club played in Division 2 in 1930–31 and from 1951–54). They are one of six teams to have played in every season of the Premier League since its inception in August 1992 – the others being Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur. Everton against Aston Villa is the most played fixture in England's top flight. As of the 2012–13 season, the two founding members of the Football League have played a record 196 league games. Everton’s community department Everton’s community department, Everton in the Community (EitC), is a charity that provides sports and other social activities for the local community including for people with disabilities. EitC represents the club in the European Multisport Club Association.Monday, 1 December 2014 / Session 6: Multi-sport clubs European Commission Relationships with other clubs Everton have a link with Republic of Ireland football academy Ballyoulster United based in Celbridge, Canada's Ontario Soccer Association, and the Football Association of Thailand where they have a competition named the Chang-Everton cup which local schoolboys compete for. The club also have a football academy in Limassol, Cyprus and a partnership agreement with American club Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The club also owned and operated a professional basketball team, by the name of Everton Tigers, who competed in the elite British Basketball League. The team was launched in the summer of 2007 as part of the club's Community programme and played their home games at the Greenbank Sports Academy. The team was an amalgam of the Toxteth Tigers community youth programme, which started in 1968. The team quickly became one of the most successful in the league by winning the BBL Cup in 2009 and the play-offs in 2010. However, Everton withdrew funding before the 2010–11 season, and the team was re-launched as the Mersey Tigers. Everton also have links with Chilean team Everton de Viña del Mar who were named after the English club. On 4 August 2010, the two Evertons played each other in a friendly named the Copa Hermandad at Goodison Park to mark the centenary of the Chilean team. The occasion was organised by The Ruleteros Society, which is a society founded to promote connections between the two clubs. Other Everton clubs exist in Rosario, Colonia in Uruguay, La Plata and Río Cuarto in Argentina, Elk Grove, California in the United States, and in Cork, Ireland. In popular culture Like all of the major clubs in England, Everton are referenced in many films, books, television programmes, songs and plays such as Boys from the Blackstuff, the Rutles' "All You Need Is Cash", Harry Enfield's "The Scousers" and a 1979 television advertisement for ITV's ORACLE teletext service. The 1997 television film The Fix dramatised the true story of a match fixing scandal in which the club's recent newly signed wing half Tony Kay, played by Jason Isaacs, is implicated in having helped to throw a match between his previous club Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town. The majority of the story is set during Everton's 1962–63 League Championship winning season with then manager Harry Catterick played by Colin Welland. First shown in 1969, the television movie The Golden Vision, directed by Ken Loach, combined improvised drama with documentary footage to tell of a group of Everton fans for whom the main purpose of life, following the team, is interrupted by such inconveniences as work and weddings. The film's title character, celebrated forward Alex Young, was one of several who appeared as themselves. In the 2015 film Creed, part of the Rocky franchise, Goodison Park features prominently and serves as the venue of climatic fight scene. Filming for this had been taken of the stadium and crowd during a match against West Bromwich Albion. Boxer Tony Bellew plays Creed's opponent Ricky Conlon and wears the Everton badge on his training gear and shorts. The club have entered the UK pop charts on four occasions under different titles during the 1980s and 1990s when many clubs released a song to mark their reaching the FA Cup Final. "The Boys in Blue", released in 1984, peaked at number 82. The following year the club scored their biggest hit when "Here We Go" peaked at 14. In 1986 the club released "Everybody's Cheering the Blues" which reached number 83. "All Together Now", a reworking of a song by Merseyside band The Farm, was released for the 1995 FA Cup Final and reached number 27. When the club next reached the 2009 FA Cup Final, the tradition had passed into history and no song was released. See also Notes References Sources * * * External links * * Everton News – Sky Sports * Everton F.C. – Premierleague.com * Everton Former Players' Foundation Category:Everton F.C. Category:1878 establishments in England Category:Association football clubs established in 1878 Category:FA Cup winners Category:Football clubs in England Category:The Football League founder members Category:Former Football League clubs Category:Premier League clubs